China’s National Astronomical Observatories (NAOC) denied on Tuesday that the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) will begin searching for aliens in 2019, in contrast to past comments by Wu Xiangping, director-general of the Chinese Astronomical Society that with FAST “We can receive weaker and more distant radio messages,” said , “It will help us to search for intelligent life outside of the galaxy and explore the origins of the universe,” underscoring the China’s race to be the first nation to discover the existence of an advanced alien civilization.